------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 21 July 2001 Issue : 07/29 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + Security at all costs, says President + Officials may meet on Aug 6 + New Delhi rejects Islamabad's stance + India asked to fulfil summit pledges + Vajpayee to continue talks with Musharraf + Pakistan, India pledge to continue talks + CE convenes NSC, cabinet meeting + Summit's failure was expected: politicians + Mujahideen want role in talks + No Indian POWs in Pakistan, says govt + Search begins for Indian POWs + HRCP chief denies comment + Summit fails, Musharraf back home + Minister climbs down on Kashmir omission + Kashmir central to amity with India + Musharraf meets APHC leaders, pledges support + Sonia Gandhi meets Musharraf + Advani suggests extradition treaty + Narayanan, Musharraf promise better relations + President gets warm welcome + Indian army denies troops pullout + Pakistan rejects charges levelled in US report + Benazir blames Musharraf for not signing declaration + Power struggle in Muslim Conference subsides + Troops trade fire along LoC + LG Ord to go before cabinet next week + Pakistan to protect gas pipeline + Delhi seeks assurance on gas supply + Fresh guidelines on ECL issued + President says polls will be held in 2002 + 20 Sherpao plans return before 2002 polls + Nawab Marri released on bail + Mansur's remand extended for 15 days + Fatyana jailed for 3 years, fined Rs3m + Quake hits Islamabad, New Delhi --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + WB asks govt to speed up WAPDA's corporatization + PTCL to launch modernization plan + Australia offers to invest $1 bn + Turkish court stops encashing of $70m bank guarantee + NBP's 10pc shares offloading plan okayed + PIA seeks Rs6bn short-term loan + Renewed selling forces index to shed 23.22 points --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + What more could we have asked for? Ayaz Amir + A job to do - beyond 2002 Kunwar Idris ----------- SPORTS + Sohail defies Australians + Pakistanis for world meet
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Security at all costs, says President ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter TAXILA, July 20: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said Pakistan is a peace-loving country and has always worked for tranquillity and stability in the region, but it cannot be done at the cost of security. "We cannot lower our guard and must have the desired deterrence against misadventures by the enemies," he added. He was speaking at the handing over of the first batch of 15 Al- Khalid main battle tanks, developed indigenously over a period of eight years at an estimated cost of $20 million, to 31 Cavalry of Armoured Corps at Heavy Industries Taxila. President Musharraf said his government would provide all resources to ensure a strong defence for a stable Pakistan. He said Pakistan being a developing country, would have to find cost-effective solutions and to promote indigenous capability, in the manufacture of arms to meet defence needs. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials may meet on Aug 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------- COLOMBO, July 20: India and Pakistan are likely to meet in Colombo on the sideline of a regional meeting in early August, Sri Lankan foreign ministry officials and diplomats said. The officials said foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan, Chokila Iyer and Inamul Haq, are expected to have a separate meeting on the sidelines of the regional meeting. The officials didn't elaborate on what Iyer and Haq plan to discuss. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- New Delhi rejects Islamabad's stance ------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW DELHI, July 20: India shot back at Pakistan, rejecting charges that New Delhi had gone back on assurances on future peace negotiations reached during the Agra summit. "No Agreement was reached. There was no closure of an agreement and no subscription by signature," an Indian foreign ministry spokeswoman was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying. "So, we have to start again on the basis of existing agreements - Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration -which form the cornerstones of relations between India and Pakistan," she added. The Shimla Agreement, signed in 1972, called for bilateral settlement of all disputes, while the February 1999 Lahore Declaration called for a negotiated settlement of all issues, including Kashmir.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010720 ------------------------------------------------------------------- India asked to fulfil summit pledges ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, July 19: Pakistan accused India of apparently backing away from understandings reached at their collapsed summit at Agra in India and insisted the two nuclear rivals must build on vows made at the talks. The charge came a day after India said any future accords with Pakistan would have to be based on earlier pacts, and not a failed draft agreement worked out at the July 15-16 summit between President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. "The statement of the spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on July 18 appears to disavow the understandings reached between the two leaders during the Agra summit," a Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement said. It also said Rao's remarks contradicted the line taken by Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, who, at his post-summit press conference said "we will pick up the threads from the visit of the president of Pakistan." Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar also expressed a "similar resolve" at a press conference here the same day, the statement added. The statement said the two sides failed to reach an agreement on the full text of a promised joint declaration because of "differences on one of its paragraphs". Nevertheless, in the course of the talks, the two leaders reached several understandings which signify a substantial forward step in our bilateral relations. It said Pakistan believed "these understandings should be preserved and expanded in the interest of peace, security and development" and added: We hope the government of India will join us in the effort to build on the foundation of these understandings. "Pakistan-India relations are governed by the United Nations charter, international law and obligations arising from the multilateral and bilateral agreements to which the countries are parties. Pakistan adheres to all of them," it said. OLD PACTS: Indian External Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said it was "disappointing that no closure was reached on the text of the agreement" at Agra. "We will therefore have to begin on the basis of the existing agreements, that is the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration which are the cornerstones of India-Pakistan bilateral relations," he told reporters in New Delhi. The 1972 Shimla Agreement envisages the bilateral settlement of all disputes, while the 1999 Lahore Declaration was an agreement to resolve a wide range of issues from the bitter dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir to nuclear arms and bilateral trade.- Reuters/AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010718 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Vajpayee to continue talks with Musharraf ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent AGRA, July 17: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is all set to continue his dialogue with President Pervez Musharraf, summit or no summit, a source, close to the prime minister, told Dawn. "The prime minister has struck a good rapport with Musharraf and they will continue to do business together for a long time to come," the source said. There is a view gaining ground among the media that if Musharraf succeeds in keeping his word on the question of POWs that Vajpayee had raised with him and manages to trace and produce some, if not all of the 54 India says Pakistan is holding, the Pakistan president will strengthen Vajpayee's hand in parliament. The Congress party has already distanced itself from Vajpayee's intiative. Informed sources said Vajpayee was looking forward to an Agra Declaration, which would have allowed the issues of terrorism and Kashmir to be upgraded for a political dialogue, making a discussion on two most contentious issues acceptable to both sides. Along with these two, a third proposal to reserve CBMs on conventional and nuclear capabilities for a political slot was to be a key part of the declaration. The sources said the declaration was almost approved for signing before the hardliners took over closer to the evening hours. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010718 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan, India pledge to continue talks ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Hasan Akhtar & Jawed Naqvi ISLAMABAD/AGRA, July 17: India and Pakistan reaffirmed to continue the dialogue, initiated in Agra, but conceded that the two-day summit meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee held ended inconclusively. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar told reporters on his return to Islamabad that the "common ground" covered by Musharraf and Vajpayee could be used to continue the dialogue. His Indian counterpart Jaswant Singh in Agra told reporters that while the summit ended disappointingly there was no need to be disheartened. Singh maintained that the summit was not a failure despite the deadlock on some issues, but rather "yet another step in our march towards finding amity, peace and better relations with Pakistan." Sattar said: "Valuable progress was made at Agra on evolving a structure for a sustained dialogue that would take up Jammu and Kashmir, peace and security, terrorism and drug trafficking at the political level." He said the process of reconciling the differences lingering for 53 years "need not be protracted. It depends upon the sense of realism purposefulness (of negotiators)". Singh said India had recognized the need to address the Kashmir issue ever since 1971 when the Shimla agreement was signed between the two countries. Abdul Sattar said the Agra summit had paved the way for future dialogue. He said the summit had ended inconclusively, but could not be termed failure as considerable progress was made. The foreign minister said President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee shared a common vision of peace, progress and prosperity for their peoples in the 21st century. "Cognizant of the benefits or peace and cooperation between the two neighbouring countries, President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee held wide-ranging discussions on Pakistan-India relations, particularly on Jammu and Kashmir," the foreign minister said. The minister said the leaders affirmed commitment to addressing each other's expressed concerns creating an environment "conducive to the establishment of peaceful, friendly and cooperative ties for the welfare of the two peoples." He recalled that Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee had accepted the President Musharraf's invitation for a return visit at a mutually convenient date and said the two leaders were expected to meet in New York in September and continue efforts to promote agreement between the two sides. He said time did not permit substantive discussion on any specific issue. But valuable progress was made at Agra on evolving a structure for a sustained dialogue process that would take up Jammu and Kashmir, peace and security, and terrorism and drug trafficking at the political level. Economic and commercial cooperation, Siachen, Wullar Barrage, Sir Creek and promotion of friendly exchanges in various levels would be addressed at the level of high officials. All these issues needed to be addressed purposefully, constructively and in an integrated manner, with a sense of urgency, Sattar observed, and recalled that responding to press questions in Agra, the president was forthcoming on discussion of any issues of concern to India. The president had emphasized again and again that realism required a focus, and that progress on settlement of Jammu and Kashmir would be conducive to normalization of bilateral relations. The foreign minister referred to the president's meeting with the leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and said Pakistan hoped India would accord the APHC leadership travel documents to visit Pakistan for consultations for which Islamabad's invitation had already been outstanding for the last several months. To a question, Sattar said it should be best known to the Indian ministry of external affairs why Pakistan's request at Agra for a press conference by the president before his departure back home, remained unmet when the talks prolonged beyond the initially indicated time of about midday. He said while the Indian prime minister had already been invited by the president to visit Pakistan, the foreign minister too had extended a separate invitation to his Indian counterpart Mr Jaswant Singh to come to Islamabad at an early opportunity. Replying to another question, Sattar said terrorism and drug trafficking had been included as the topics for the dialogue between the two countries in the proposed draft declaration, which he said, had been aborted at the last minute, by whom and why he was unable to say. He clarified that trade relations had not been discussed at the summit. The foreign minister said he believed that if the two sides were not constrained because of the paucity of the time it might have been possible to finalize the draft declaration by sorting out the residual issues concerning some points and concepts. He hoped that it would be possible to overcome that in next meeting between the two sides. Jawed Naqvi adds from Agra: India on Tuesday blamed Pakistan's obsession with Kashmir as a key factor hindering closer bilateral ties but said the Agra summit between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf which ended on Monday without as much as a joint statement being produced was not quite a failure. "We are, of course, disappointed that the two sides could not arrive at an agreed text," India's Minister of Defence and External Affairs Jaswant Singh told a news conference a day after the summit caved in under a suspected hard-liners' assault from India. "It will not be a breach of confidentiality to clarify that this was on an account of the difficulty of reconciling our basic approaches to bilateral relations. India is convinced that narrow, segmented or unifocal approaches will simply not work. Our focus has to remain on the totality of the relationship," Singh declared. He said India would persist with its endeavour to build trust and confidence, and a mutually beneficial relationship even as both sides address and move forward on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, building upon the existing compacts of Simla and Lahore. Singh, hitherto a Vajpayee prot�g�, has emerged as a front-runner for his mentor's job for which, when the occasion arises, he will inevitably need the complete support of hardcore Hindu nationalists. As a result, analysts say, Singh's body language has undergone a change, exuding a more hawkish visage than he was so far accustomed to projecting. He is also credited with drafting the more eloquent of Indian communiqu�s, including the one here. "In keeping with his abiding vision of good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan, the prime minister had invited President Musharraf to walk the high road of peace and reconciliation. Our commitment to that noble objective, upon the attainment of which rests the welfare of many, is not transitory," Singh said. "It is that commitment that was demonstrated at Shimla and Lahore and recently during President Musharraf's visit." He said significant confidence building measures that were announced prior to President Musharraf's visit would be fully implemented by India. Singh said the summit negotiations for an agreed text of document were seriously pursued. "There were long hours of discussions at official and political levels. During these negotiations India did not shy away from any issue. In keeping with the confidentiality, which is necessary for these negotiations and maintenance of which is necessary for the future bilateral relations themselves, it would not be proper to go into details." Obliquely accusing General Musharraf of seeking unfair media advantage in Agra, as opposed to Vajpayee's deafening silence, Singh said: "It needs assertion that, during the negotiating process, India fully respected all established international norms. As a responsible and mature democracy, we negotiate to improve bilateral relations with our neighbours, not to indulge in public relations." Singh said the invitation by Musharraf to Vajpayee stands as accepted regardless of the Agra summit's disappointing outcome. Text of Sattar's statement ISLAMABAD, July 17: The following is the text of statement issued by Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar here on Tuesday, a day after the summit between Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. President Pervez Musharraf has returned from India optimistic about prospects for better relations between Pakistan and India. Considerable progress was made in summit level discussions and in evolving the text of a declaration. It is unfortunate that the expected consummation did not materialise. Nevertheless, the president remains convinced that the existing goodwill on both sides can and will achieve mutually desired results. President Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee share a common vision of peace, progress and prosperity for their peoples in the 21st century. The president has complimented the Indian Prime Minister for the gracious initiative to invite him for the resumption of dialogue between the two countries after a hiatus of nearly two years. Recognising the benefits of peace and cooperation between the two neighbouring countries, President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee held wide-ranging discussions on Pakistan-India relations, particularly on Jammu and Kashmir. They affirmed commitment to addressing each other's expressed concerns, creating an environment conducive to the establishment of peaceful, friendly and cooperative ties, for the welfare of the two peoples. While in New Delhi, President Musharraf welcomed the opportunity to meet with the leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. We hope India would accord them travel documents to visit Pakistan for consultations. Time did not permit substantive discussion on any specific issue. But valuable progress was made at Agra on evolving a structure for a sustained dialogue process, that would take up Jammu and Kashmir, peace and security, and terrorism and drug trafficking at the political level. Economic and commercial cooperation, Siachin, Wuller Barrage, Sir Creek and promotion of friendly exchanges in various levels would be addressed at the level of high officials. All these issues need to be addressed purposefully, constructively and in an integrated manner, with a sense of urgency. Responding to press questions, the President of Pakistan was forthcoming on discussion of any issues of concern to India. He emphasised again and again that realism requires a focus, and that progress on settlement of Jammu and Kashmir would be conducive to normalisation of bilateral relations. Prime Minister Vajpayee has accepted our president's invitation for a return visit. The two leaders are expected to meet in New York in September and continue efforts to promote agreement. The goodwill between them is an asset for better relations between the two countries. President Musharraf had a valuable opportunity to meet a large number of prominent Indian leaders. His exchanges of views with intellectuals and media luminaries will no doubt contribute to better mutual understanding. Enlightened opinion in India is no less keen than that in Pakistan to extricate bilateral relations from the time wrap in which they have been trapped for 54 years. Like the Indian Prime Minster, the Minster for External affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh brought equal goodwill to the task of translating the convergence of thoughts at the summit level into words. The two sides came very close to bringing the declaration close to adoption and approval. In fact twice yesterday it appeared we had succeeded in arriving at a mutually acceptable formulation. It is unfortunate that the fruition of the exercise was aborted. The Agra Summit remained inconclusive but it did not fail. In fact, the two leaders succeeded in covering a broad area of common ground in the draft declaration. That will provide a valuable foundation for the two leaders to reach full agreement at their next meeting. Compliments are due also to intellectuals, media and the common people in India as in Pakistan for their contribution to building an environment of opinion conducive to forward movement. Heartened by the prevalent goodwill, President Musharraf believes popular support will be an asset also to leaders in India who want to work for a future better than the past."-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010718 ------------------------------------------------------------------- CE convenes NSC, cabinet meeting ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 17: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has convened a joint meeting of the cabinet and the National Security Council to take them into confidence over his dialogue with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The president would also meet people from various sections of society, Information Secretary Anwer Mehmood told Dawn. All those who had been invited for consultation before the summit, would again be called and apprised of the Agra talks. However, dates for these meetings had not yet been finalized, he added. The president would also hold a press conference, Mr Mehmood said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010718 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Summit's failure was expected: politicians ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, July 17: Politicians, critical of President Musharraf, said the failure of the India-Pakistan summit had been expected. "I am not surprised at the failure of talks," said veteran politician, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, leader 14 Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD). "During 50 years of Pakistan-India history the 50 or so rounds of talks between the two at various levels have always failed to resolve the Kashmir issue. This result does not come as a surprise," he told Reuters. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010718 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mujahideen want role in talks ------------------------------------------------------------------- SRINAGAR, July 17: Mujahideen leaders renewed demands to be included in negotiations on the future of Kashmir following the collapse of the Agra summit. President Pervez Musharraf won praise from groups in occupied Kashmir for his tough talk during the two days of talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Abdul Gani Bhat, chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), said the summit was sabotaged by "hawks" surrounding the Indian prime minister. "We were not expecting that the two leaders would resolve all bilateral issues in one go," he said. "The solution has to be found through negotiations involving Kashmiris."-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010720 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No Indian POWs in Pakistan, says govt ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 19: The interior ministry said that it had thoroughly combed all the prisons in the country but found no Indian prisoner of war there. However, according to an interior ministry spokesman, there were 135 Indian nationals in various jails who were mostly involved in illegal border crossing cases. Out of these prisoners, 70 have already been cleared for deportation but there cases were under process at the Indian High Commission. Most of these prisoners had no travel documents, the spokesman said, adding that they would be deported as soon as documents were handed over to them and other arrangements were made by the high commission. When asked where those Indians had been arrested, the spokesman said border crossing was not confined to any particular area. The fishermen arrested in the coastal areas of Karachi and Balochistan would not be deported by sea in view of the whether conditions, he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010717 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Search begins for Indian POWs ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 16: The Ministry of Interior has once again started combing all prisons of the country to trace 54 Indian prisoners of war New Delhi claims to be missing since 1971 war, Dawn reliably learnt. "We have already checked twice with all the jails but found no clue of any Indian POW as claimed by the Indian authorities," a spokesman for the interior ministry told Dawn. The Indian officials have been claiming that there are 54 POWs still languishing in Pakistani jails. Pakistan has refuted the Indian claim on a number of occasions, but the issue was once again raised at a breakfast meeting of President Gen Pervez Musharraf with editors and leading journalists of Indian media in Agra. President Musharraf held out an assurance to the parents of missing soldiers to personally look into the matter. Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- HRCP chief denies comment ------------------------------------------------------------------- LAHORE, July 20: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has rejected as untrue the report carried by an Indian newspaper, Pioneer, that the HRCP had confirmed the presence of 35 Indian PoWs in Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, director of the HRCP, has denied giving such information or even such impression to anyone. An HRCP press release issued on Friday said: In view of the misunderstandings likely to be caused by this instance of incorrect reporting, the HRCP wishes to put the record straight. Over the past two years or so, several Indians approached HRCP for help in inquiries about members of their families who, they believed, had been taken prisoners of war in 1971 or were so treated after straying into Pakistan. The HRCP duly communicated these pleas to the authorities concerned as it had no means of its own to check on facts. The correspondents were told that the government of Pakistan denied holding any Indian PoWs. A few petitions were received from some Pakistanis who claimed that their relations were being held as PoWs in India. These were referred to the Indian authorities. Apart from adding its plea for proper disposal of such petitions, the HRCP cannot play any role. The HRCP welcomes the commitment made by Pakistan at the highest level to once again probe the matter because it is fully sensitive to the feelings of families who somehow believe that their dear ones have been separated from them under circumstances that make no sense to anyone. Since what matters most is the satisfaction of the families concerned, government disclaimers may not be enough. The HRCP, therefore, calls upon the governments of India and Pakistan to consider the possibilities of creating a joint tribunal comprising high judicial and military authorities to conduct on both sides whatever probes are necessary. For the HRCP, removal of citizens' grievances against the neighbouring state is one of the important confidence-building measures needed to achieve good relations between India and Pakistan. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010717 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Summit fails, Musharraf back home ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jawed Naqvi AGRA, July 16: Pakistan and India broke off their three-day summit meeting agreeing that the high road to peace they set out to walk together was paved with deep mistrust they mistook for good intentions. The tone of the summit was one-sided from the very beginning in which President Pervez Musharraf did most of the talking to the media against Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's deafening silence. In the end the Indian side was so fed up with the mismatch that according to some news reports they decided to send off the guest without granting him his favourite indulgence, a pre-departure press conference. There was no joint statement, much less an Agra Declaration everyone was given to understand was being licked into shape. Before leaving Agra for home, Musharraf paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. "We are going back disappointed but there is always hope," Pakistan government spokesman Anwar Mahmood told reporters. Mahmood also recalled that Vajpayee had accepted an invitation on Sunday to visit Pakistan later in the year. "We hope the process of dialogue will continue," he said, while pointing the finger of blame at India for the breakdown in talks on the final declaration. A senior Pakistan official told newsmen that the negotiations had become deadlocked over "the centrality" accorded to the Kashmir dispute in the declaration document. - APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010717 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Minister climbs down on Kashmir omission ------------------------------------------------------------------- AGRA, July 16: An Indian minister whose remarks triggered anger at a summit with Pakistan, said there was no ulterior motive behind her failure to mention that the Kashmir dispute had been discussed between the bitter foes. Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said that talks between Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf had touched on four areas - but omitted to mention the key dispute over Kashmir. Her comments provoked a statement from the Pakistan team criticizing her, and insisting that the Kashmir had been the main issue discussed in the talks. "I did not omit Kashmir deliberately ... Kashmir is an issue on which talks are going on," Swaraj told reporters in Agra in what was seen as an attempt to play down an issue that briefly threatened to derail efforts by the two countries to end more than 50 years of animosity. She said she referred to the other issues to show that the talks was progressing in a positive direction. "I don't see any reason why they should be upset over it," Swaraj added.-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010717 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Kashmir central to amity with India ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent AGRA, July 16: President Pervez Musharraf said that the Kashmir dispute remained central to ending years of enmity with India. "Let us not remain under any illusion that the main issue confronting us is Kashmir," he told Indian newspaper editors and TV anchor persons over breakfast here. "That is the reality on the ground, whether we like it or not," he said. Indian journalists also expressed their support for President Pervez Musharraf's plea to acknowledge his country's standoff over Kashmir as a dispute or at least a key issue with Delhi. "If India expects that I should ignore Kashmir, I better buy back the Neharwali Haveli and stay there," he told the editors bluntly and with dramatic effect, the wry humour now a bit of a Musharraf hallmark. The result was music to the General's ears. The president said people in Pakistan did not trust the Indian government because they suspected that there was a design behind New Delhi's refusal to accept Kashmir as the core issue. "The suspicion is that India diverts us to other issues," he said. Musharraf said if India was allergic to calling Kashmir a dispute, he would not mind it being described as an "issue". Upset by the remarks of Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, the President said he saw her talking on television on everything - trade, cross-border terrorism, nuclear issues and POWs - but "not a word on Kashmir although the most part of my discussions with the Prime Minister was spent on Kashmir". Clearly unimpressed by the confidence-building measures announced by India, the General said: "What confidence building measures? The biggest confidence building measure is Kashmir." Musharraf said "certain things have to be ironed out" before the end of his discussions with Vajpayee. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Musharraf meets APHC leaders, pledges support ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Javed Naqvi NEW DELHI, July 14: President Gen Pervez Musharraf promised Pakistan's continued moral and political support to Kashmiri freedom fighters during a 25-minute closed-door meeting with Hurriyet leaders here. "The general sahib has promised to continue moral and political support to the Kashmiris until the resolution of the Kashmir dispute," All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Abdul Gani Bhat said later. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sonia Gandhi meets Musharraf ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring desk NEW DELHI, July 14: Congress President Sonia Gandhi met President Pervez Musharraf and urged that there should be "flexibility and open mind" on both sides. Musharraf also said that rigidity on either side would not help in improving India-Pakistan relations, adding that he looked forward to resumption of a constructive dialogue between India and Pakistan, and urging that both sides must take into account each other's compulsions. President Musharraf, who has been sticking on Kashmir as the "core" issue, said it could not be relegated to second position. The Congress chief in her 25-minute "very cordial" meeting told the visiting dignitary that Simla Accord and Lahore Declaration should be the basis of the bilateral dialogue, said Anand Sharma, the party spokesman. Both sides also referred to the nuclear issue and also underscored the need for peace for the welfare of people of the two countries. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Advani suggests extradition treaty ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring desk NEW DELHI, July 14: Home Minister L K Advani is understood to have suggested to President Pervez Musharraf signing of an extradition treaty besides asserting that peace should not be held hostage to resolution of any single issue, regardless of its importance for either side. Advani, during his 25-minute meeting with Musharraf, also raised the issue of cross-border terrorism saying innocent people should not be made victims of terrorism simply because of differences between Islamabad and New Delhi. The suggestion for an extradition treaty came up in the context of activities of criminals involved in kidnapping, murders and extortion�s who slipped into each other's countries taking advantage of the strained bilateral relations. According to sources, Advani is understood to have said that if India can have such a treaty with Turkey, Germany and several other nations which were not being used as safe havens by criminals, in the case of Pakistan it was a reality and therefore signing of an extradition treaty was imperative. The sources said Musharraf responded to Advani's plea for extradition treaty saying "Yes, why not?" "We should not say that 'jehad' will continue till a particular issue is resolved," Advani reportedly told Musharraf. The Home Minister is also understood to have said that the Kashmir state did not consist of the Valley alone. It included Azad Kashmir, Northern Areas and those ceded by Pakistan to China, besides Ladakh and Jammu regions. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Narayanan, Musharraf promise better relations ------------------------------------------------------------------- By M. Ziauddin NEW DELHI, July 14: The President of Pakistan Gen Pervez Musharraf and his Indian counterpart KR Narayanan set the tone for the two- day Agra summit by recalling the wishes of their respective founding fathers who had wanted the two countries to live in peace and harmony. The two leaders were speaking at the banquet hosted by the India president for his Pakistani counterpart. President Musharraf rounded off his response to president Narayanan's warm sentiments which he had expressed in his welcome speech by quoting from Quaid- I-Azam's August 7, 1947 speech in which the father of the Pakistani nation had said: "The past must be buried and let us start afresh as two independent sovereign states of Hindustan and Pakistan. I wish Hindustan prosperity and peace." Pervez Musharraf urged upon India to join him "in this noble endeavour, let us begin this effort now, let us today embark upon this challenging and rewarding task, let us join hands in building a better future for our succeeding generations." President Narayanan, earlier in his speech had quoted from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's book "The Discovery of India" (1945-46) in which he had said: "It is obvious that whatever be the future of India, even if there is regular partition, the different parts of India, will have to co-operate with each other, in a hundred different ways." The Pakistani president admitted that the legacy of the past years was not a happy one, "Our two countries have been through wars, blood has been spilled; precious lives have been lost, we have been locked in mutual suspicion and hostility, we have paid a heavy price for it and we owe it to our future generations to do our utmost to open a new chapter of goodwill and cooperation. Referring to the Kashmir issue, the Pakistani president said that Jammu and Kashmir dispute continued to block progress towards normalization of relations between the two countries and "I believe that there can be no military solution of this dispute, we must be bold enough to face this issue squarely and resolve it once and for all." "This, indeed, will open a new chapter of fruitful relations between our two countries and also put an end to the sufferings of the people of Kashmir," he added. He said that he was deeply committed to finding a path towards normal relations between India and Pakistan. "I would like communications to open, trade to flourish, mindsets to change and stereotypes to disappear." "The children of India and Pakistan must not be made to live under the constant shadow of conflict, they must also not be made to live in deprivation and crippling poverty, the energies of our people must be diverted to the immense and challenging task of social and economic uplift of banishing misery and ushering in an era of progress and prosperity," he said. He told President Musharraf that the city of Agra where he would be parleying with the Indian prime minister from tomorrow "is the city of love as well as the city of reconciliation. "I believe that the dialogue between India and Pakistan that we have initiated will evolve into a structured dialogue at the summit as well as other levels which will lead to the removal of all obstacles and misunderstandings that stand in our way and pave the way to the solutions of problems and the creation of enduring friendship between our two nations." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- President gets warm welcome ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent NEW DELHI, July 14: President Gen Pervez Musharraf arrived by a chartered PIA Boeing 737-700 plane. The CE was received at the Palam technical area among others by the minister of state for railways, Digvijay Singh, and Ashraf Jehangir Qazi. Gen Musharraf waved and greeted mediamen before the presidential motorcade comprising over 40 limousines, proceeded to Rashtrapati Bhawan, where he was accorded a ceremonial welcome. As President Musharraf alighted from the presidential limousine accompanied by Begum Sehba Musharraf, he was received by President K.R. Narayanan and First Lady Usha Narayanana. He was then greeted by Prime Minister Vajpayee. The Pakistan President was escorted to the saluting dais by the chief of protocol, Manvir Singh, as the national anthems of the two countries were played by the military band. He then inspected the inter-services Guard of Honour. It is believed that the last time a Pakistan leader was given a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan was in 1953 to the then prime minister, Mohammad Ali Bogra. Text of president's statement NEW DELHI, July 14: The following is the text of statement by President Gen Pervez Musharraf on his arrival here: On my arrival in India at the kind invitation of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, I would like to extend warm greetings to the government and people of India on my personal behalf and on behalf of the people of Pakistan. I have come with an open mind and look forward to my discussions with Indian leaders on establishing peaceful, tension-free and co-operative relations between our two countries. For the sake of economic prosperity and peaceful co-existence, Pakistan and India need to maintain dialogue to resolve disputes and to explore opportunities for improving bilateral relations. I am glad this dialogue has now been resumed. For more than half a century, the Kashmir dispute has cast a shadow on relations between Pakistan and India. In my talks with the Indian leaders, I will be looking forward to a meaningful, frank and substantial discussion urging them to join hands with us in resolving this dispute in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people. This will facilitate resolution of other issues and lead to a full normalisation of relations. I am hopeful that my talks with Prime Minister Vajpayee will pave the way for better relations between Pakistan and India."-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010716 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Indian army denies troops pullout ------------------------------------------------------------------- SRINAGAR, July 15: The Indian army stationed in occupied Kashmir denied reports that it was planning to pull out 20,000 troops from the disputed state along the border with Pakistan. "We have not received any such orders from our high command in New Delhi," Colonel S.P.K. Singh, spokesman for the Indian army's northern command, told AFP by telephone from his headquarters in Udhampur. "We are not aware of any such move," Singh said. "There has been no withdrawal of troops from Jammu region as suggested by the media. Such a big pull-out will not go unnoticed," he added.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan rejects charges levelled in US report ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, July 14: Pakistan rejected the "unsubstantiated allegations" leveled against it in a US report on "Trafficking in Persons". "We reject the allegations in the US State Department report and the insinuation implicit in its categorization," said a statement by the Foreign Office spokesman here. The observations on Pakistan were made in the US State Department report on "Trafficking in Persons" released on July 12 which represented unsubstantiated allegations. "Instead of unwarranted criticism, we would welcome and join international efforts and cooperation for addressing this problem," said the FO statement. On its part, "Pakistan will continue to make every effort to combat crimes like trafficking of persons in all earnestness". It said the report arbitrarily and unfairly listed Pakistan among countries whose governments are allegedly not making significant efforts to address human trafficking. "It completely ignores the efforts made by the Government of Pakistan to combat the crime of trafficking in persons, which is an international bane and afflicts seriously the United States itself". "The Government and civil society in Pakistan have been sensitive to the problem and have taken steps to stop smuggling of children for camel races which is one of the allegations contained in the report." The Pakistan media has regularly carried programs to create public consciousness against this crime. "Similarly, there have been sustained efforts on the part of law-enforcement agencies to help repatriate smuggled persons, particularly women, to their countries of origin." As part of its commitment to promote and protect human rights, the Government of Pakistan has recently decided to sign the Optional Protocol on the "Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography", which was adopted last year by the UN. "We are party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, while the United States, the author of the report, is one of the two countries in the world which have yet to ratify the Convention.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010720 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Benazir blames Musharraf for not signing declaration ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring Desk LONDON, July 19: Stating that declarations were difficult for Generals, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto put the blame squarely on President General Pervez Musharraf for his failure to sign a joint declaration with India during the Agra summit. "It was startling to witness his puerile brinkmanship where the Indians called the bluff," the Pakistan People's Party co- chairperson said, adding the "summit did prove that whilst politicians come up with agreements, declarations are difficult for Generals," PTI reported on Internet quoting a statement from the PPP leader. Commenting on the summit, Bhutto said in a statement that "time was always running short - and then extended. Musharraf departed when sources leaked that the talks would continue the next day." She said the entire world was watching the 'Agra summit' and expected a joint declaration but eventually "there wasn't even a joint statement." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010716 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Power struggle in Muslim Conference subsides ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ahmed Hassan ISLAMABAD, July 15: Azad Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference and the PPP AJK chapter have allotted tickets to party nominees for the elections on eight Legislative Assembly seats reserved for women, ulema and mashaikh, overseas Kashmiris and technocrats, to be held on July 20. MC, after loosing Chaudhry Ismail's seat against PPP's Maqbool Ahmed in re-polling on a polling station at Gujranwala, is left with 21 seats and its rival party's tally has risen to 16. Muslim Conference which has emerged as the majority party in the house of 40 MLAs, in July 5 polls, is confident to win at least five reserved seats. The Sardars also have agreed not to field Sardar Atique for premiership to keep the unity, insiders revealed. However, it will become clear in the meeting whether Sardar Qayum himself becomes the candidate for the chief executive's office or leaves it to his political adversary, Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Troops trade fire along LoC ------------------------------------------------------------------- SRINAGAR, July 14: Indian and Pakistani troops traded machine-gun fire across the Kashmir border as Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf started a visit to India for a peace summit, a defence spokesman said. The gunfire was reported from the Manjakote area of the LoC. "There were no casualties in the fresh firing," said the spokesman.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- LG Ord to go before cabinet next week ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter LAHORE, July 20: The local government ordinance which will give legal cover to the devolution plan and the district government system is likely to be finalized and submitted to the Punjab cabinet for approval during the next week. Sources told Dawn that the draft ordinance was being checked, and it was likely to be given a final shape during the next week, making it possible to promulgate it during the first week of August. The government had earlier issued a separate ordinance to provide a legal cover to district governments only to the extent of holding their elections. This ordinance was prepared by the National Reconstruction Bureau and was promulgated simultaneously by all the provinces. But the new ordinance, also drafted by the NRB, would be promulgated separately by them, the sources said. They said this time the provinces had been allowed to make changes in the ordinance to suit their local requirements. The final draft of the ordinance did not clash with the constitution as all the objections raised earlier by the Punjab had been removed, they said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan to protect gas pipeline ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, July 20: Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan has said that security of proposed Indo-Iran gas pipeline is no problem for Pakistan. He said both countries also discussed the overland gas pipeline project. President Musharraf said Pakistan already supports the project and believes that it will strengthen economies in the region. Riaz Mohammad Khan said the total length of our main gas pipelines is over 8,000 kilometres. He said that these pipelines are fully protected and the pipeline between Iran and India will also be protected. There is no such issue at all, he concluded.-PPI DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010717 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Delhi seeks assurance on gas supply ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring Desk Mumbai, July 16: Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said that he expected a "positive" outcome of the summit meeting over proposed Indo-Iran gas pipeline and that India should be ensured of safe and uninterrupted supply of natural gas. "I had submitted a detailed note regarding the Indo-Iran pipeline to Vajpayee...I want to ensure the safety of the gas and also need a guarantee that supply would be uniterrupted, if it would pass through the soil of our neighbours till the Indian border", Naik told reporters here. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010716 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Fresh guidelines on ECL issued ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, July 15: The Federal Investigation Agency is learnt to have devised fresh guidelines for streamlining matters related to the Exit Control List. Sources told Dawn that the field units of the agency had been given specific directions to streamline the procedure for placement of people on the ECL. They said the field units had been asked to make timely requests for placement of names on the ECL giving particulars of individuals, description of inquiry/case and its present status. The sources said the units had also been asked to give full justification for restricting an individual from traveling abroad. All information about the person to be placed on the ECL would be required in the Performa prescribed by the Interior Division in this regard, they said. The sources said the FIA high-ups had noticed that the particulars of a suspect, such as his full name, father's name, temporary and permanent residential and business addresses, national identity card and passport numbers and photograph were not being secured at the time of arrest or even in the course of investigation. They said all the investigation officers of the agency specifically had been asked to secure the required information in the very beginning of investigation or inquiry and place it on file for subsequent use. Similarly, the sources said, the field units had also been asked to furnish fully justified views without any delay whenever a case pertaining to the deletion of a name was referred to them. They said complete views and options for or against "one-time permission" to a person on the ECL to travel abroad were required to be furnished without any delay. The sources said the zonal directors would directly address their communications to the director immigration at the FIA Headquarter in Islamabad, and the field units of the Economic Crime Wing (ECW) would send them to the director of ECW, who would immediately address the director, immigration, giving him clear views/comments. They said the director, immigration, would independently address the communications to the Interior Division or other authorities, as the case might be, on the basis of information received by him. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010717 ------------------------------------------------------------------- President says polls will be held in 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- AGRA, July 16: President Pervez Musharraf said that elections will be held next year. "I certainly intend to stick by that," he told a briefing a of newspaper editors on the sidelines of the summit here. "I am going to hold elections next year. A real democracy is now being introduced in Pakistan by me." "I was thrust into that position by my predecessor," he said. "For the sake of Pakistan it was required ... maybe not me coming, but him going, definitely."-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sherpao plans return before 2002 polls ------------------------------------------------------------------- By M. Ismail Khan PESHAWAR, July 20: Former chief minister Aftab Sherpao, who lives in self exile in London, has said that he is planning to stage a comeback before the expected national elections due in October 2002. "I am a politician and I have my career in politics. I cannot afford to stay away from politics for too long," Mr Sherpao told a group of Peshawar-based journalists at his Sussex Gardens flat in central London recently. Expressing satisfaction over the results of the local bodies elections in the NWFP where, he claimed, his faction of the PPP had done rather well, a beaming Sherpao said he was confident he had a role to play in the political arena. "I want to go home and take part in the coming general elections." The two-time Frontier chief minister said the situation in Pakistan had undergone a big change since the military takeover in October 1999. He admitted that the country was on its path towards democracy but said the army would have a direct role in national politics this time round. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010718 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nawab Marri released on bail ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent QUETTA, July 17: Veteran Baloch leader Nawab Khair Buksh Marri was released on bail from District Jail Quetta. The judge of Special Court for Suppression of Terrorist Activities, Mohammad Akbar Achakzai, granted bail to Nawab Marri on medical ground in two remaining cases registered against him in Barkhan area of Loralai district. The court had already accepted bail on the same ground in three other cases, including the murder case of Justice Nawaz Marri. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010720 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mansur's remand extended for 15 days ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 19: An accountability court extended the remand of the former naval chief, Admiral (retd) Mansurul Haq, for 15 days for the fifth time despite strong opposition by the defence. The former naval chief, who is facing charges of receiving kickbacks and commission in a defence deal is now required to appear again before the accountability court No 1 on August 3. Abdul Baseer Qureshi, additional deputy prosecutor general appearing before the court asked for extension of remand for another 15 days. The defence counsel, Altaf Hussain objected to the request stating that his client was under the custody of National Accountability Bureau (NAB), for the last 57 days, and as yet they had come up with nothing to prove his client's guilt. The counsel insisted that the investigations into the defence deals was going on for the last 8 years and still prosecution needed more time to probe into the case. The counsel also complained that they had received no response on the plea-bargain application submitted by the accused. The prosecution, said that they had nothing to do with the application and it had to be decided by the chairman NAB. "We are only concerned with the investigation which we are doing," he said. Qureshi argued that the matter was highly sensitive as it involved classified documents, besides a lot of new information had come to light during the investigation. Therefore more time was sought to complete the enquiry since details about defence deals, different offshore companies and properties had to be collected. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010720 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Fatyana jailed for 3 years, fined Rs3m ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter LAHORE, July 19: An accountability court convicted former Punjab education minister Riaz Fatyana of illegal appointments in the Education Department. The court awarded him three years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs3 million. Should the fine remain unpaid for 15 days the law shall take its course as stipulated in Section 386 of the Criminal Procedure Code for its recovery. The former minister was accused of making illegal appointments in the Faisalabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education and the Punjab Textbook Board. The prosecution said 126 people were employed illegally and that this caused a loss of Rs28.9 million to the provincial exchequer. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010717 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Quake hits Islamabad, New Delhi ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, July 16 : The Islamabad region was hit by a moderate/severe earthquake at 21:07 hours on Monday. AFP adds: An earthquake of 5.3 magnitude on the Richter scale, with its epicentre in Pakistan, rocked Kashmir and parts of northern India, including New Delhi. The tremor was felt at 9:37pm, according to officials.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- WB asks govt to speed up WAPDA's corporatization ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, July 14: The World Bank has asked the federal government to accelerate WAPDA's corporatization process including transfer of its staff, assets and liabilities to 12 corporate entities. This has come following an update submitted by Private Electric Power Company (PEPCO), the umbrella organisation and holding company of 12 break-away generation and distribution companies, last month, finance ministry sources told Dawn . "A perusal of the report would indicate that the corporatization program is being implemented rather slowly," said a working paper commenting on the PEPCO report that listed some 14 steps required to be done under Power Sector Restructuring Reforms program. The program has a co-finance of around a billion dollar from various donors led by the World Bank. At present, 'property transfer agreements' are being drafted for legal transfer of WAPDA properties, assets and liabilities to 12 separate entities. The actual transfer would, however, take place after the provincial governments grant exemption from payment of taxes/stamp duties, and the creditors give their consent to this effect. WAPDA and PEPCO are currently in the process to seek donor's consent through the economic affairs division but this also required completion of financial modeling and financial restructuring of the corporatized entities finalized in consultation with the World Bank. The World Bank has said that the privatization of Gencos and Discos was contingent upon the completion of three actions: First, GOP policy guidelines on economic and social policy objectives, uniform tariffs or otherwise, cross subsidies, cost and return of rural electrification progra. Second, Completion of restructuring and corporatization process and thirdly the completion of regulatory framework. The bank has been pointing out that modifications need to be made in the way liabilities have been transferred from WAPDA to corporate entities. Under the current transition arrangements, the corporatized entities have been given a 70:30 debt equity ratio and in addition to the loans directly allocated to the corporatized entities, net worth has been transferred as a long term loan. Currently, WAPDA has a debt to equity ratio of about 50:50. "This distorts the financial position of the corporate entities and results in additional cash flow needs for the corporate entities, while the remaining WAPDA accumulates funds in access to its debt service requirements." The World Bank is of the view that the ongoing financial modeling exercise should be helpful to analyze the implications and formulate concrete recommendations for correcting this situation for further government and management decisions. The same modeling exercises should be used to firm up transfer prices and to design measures for protecting the financial position of the weaker Discos. It suggested to accelerate financial modeling exercise for the corporate entities and WAPDA to identify need for further financial restructuring and other measures to protect the weaker Discos and to determine transfer prices and new financial targets for each corporate entity and WAPDA. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PTCL to launch modernization plan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 20: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has decided to further modernize its infrastructure facilities and improve its services at a total cost of Rs 18 billion, chairman of the PTCL Akhtar Ahmad Bajwa told Dawn. "The modernization program also includes the provision for increasing the number of fixed telephones from the current 3.2 million to 3.6 million by the end of 2002," he added. "The PTCL will shortly invite bids for developing state-of-the-art billing and customer care services to be offered next year at a cost of about 25 to 30 million dollars." Mr Bajwa said that the main purpose was to offer more value added services to customers. "In fact we are preparing ourselves for 2003 when the monopoly of the PTCL will end and we will have to face the competition in the market", he said. He pointed out that the new efficient billing system, which would be installed next year, would cater to the multi-operation internal billing of the company. The focus of the plan, he pointed out, was to meet the requirements of the corporate sector. When other companies are operational in January 2003, corporations would not feel the need to switch over from PTCL because its service would be upto the mark. Mr Bajwa also said that while Pakistan's corporate sector was 20 per cent of PTCL's total clientele it provided 80 per cent of the revenues. This sector needed broad data services which could not be provided unless PTCL opted for the modernization program. He further said necessary infrastructure will have to be built in order to compete with new operators likely to come in 2003. Responding to a question he said that inter-connect agreements will be made with the private sector in order to provide them with new services. He said that the modernization program also included enhancing fibre capacity from Megawatt (MW) to Gigawatt(GW). "There will be 100 per cent digitalisation of the lines by the end of this year", Akhtar Bajwa said. The digitalisation of lines, he said, will greatly improve the telephone service and people are being trained for this. When asked whether the new buyer of PTCL would want to retain the current 50,000 workers once it was privatised, he said, "We are trying to retain that workforce by upgrading their skills and training them for various computer services." Nevertheless, he made it clear that PTCL did not have any plans to remove its employees from the jobs. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010717 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia offers to invest $1 bn ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, July 16: Australia has offered to invest $1 billion for development and commercial exploitation of copper deposits near Saindak in Balochistan. Cabinet sources told Dawn that BHP, a petroleum and mineral exploration company of Australia, "has shown interest in developing Rekodek copper deposits near Saindak" in Chaghi district. The Australian company had earlier done exploratory work in the area, partly in consultation with the Balochistan government, the sources said. The sources said that foreign companies, mainly the Australian and Chinese mining firms, were competing with each other in getting hold of Balochistan's vast mineral deposits of copper, gold and other precious metals. The foreign direct investment in the mineral and quarrying sector peaked at 26 per cent in 2000-01 as against 13.6 per cent in the previous year. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Turkish court stops encashing of $70m bank guarantee ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Rafaqat Ali ISLAMABAD, July 20: Pakistan has not been successful in encashing US$70 million bank guarantee extended by a consortium of Turkish banks for the Islamabad-Peshawar motorway project, Dawn has learnt. According to NHA sources dealing with the cancellation of Rs40 billion Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway project, Turkish contractor has obtained a stay order from Turkish Commercial Court, ordering that bank guarantee should not be encashed till the time the dispute is resolved according to Pakistani laws. The bank guarantee extended by a consortium of seven Turkish banks was invoked after the National Highway Authority "expelled" the Turkish contractor Bayinder for its failure to complete two sections of motorway on schedule. According to the sources, Member Finance, NHA travelled to Turkey for the purpose. The request for invocation of the bank guarantee was not immediately accepted by the Turkish banks as the contractor, Bayinder, has taken the position that the bank guarantee could not be invoked till the time the dispute was finally resolved through arbitration. The contractor was expelled from the site under clause 69.1 of the contract, according to which the work would be completed at the risk and cost of the contractor. In case the project was completed with less cost, the contractor would be entitled to claim the savings and in case it was completed with more cost it would be liable to pay the additional cost. The NHA is of the view that it had paid Rs15 billion to the contractor and would recover Rs6 billion which were paid to the contractor in the form of "mobilisation advance". The government of Pakistan had also signed a loan agreement for 100 million US dollars with Exim Bank of Turkey for the construction of Peshawar-Islamabad motorway at the interest rate of 10 per cent (4.5 per cent above LIBOR). The total loan was not utilised. After the utilisation of US $54 million, the government of Pakistan cancelled the credit line. Under the original contract signed for the construction of Islamabad-Peshawar motorway, the contractor was required to arrange foreign loan worth US $322 million. The loan obtained from Exim Bank of Turkey was to be paid within a period of three years. Unlike the loan agreements signed for the construction of Islamabad-Lahore section of motorway, this loan agreement had no grace period. In October 1999, the contractor communicated to the NHA that due to poor credit rating of Pakistan after its going nuclear, he was unable to arrange the balance foreign currency. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- NBP's 10pc shares offloading plan okayed ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 14: The Privatization Commission Board (PCB) decided to offer up to 10 per cent government shares in National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to the general public through stock market at Rs10 par value. Secretary Privatization Commission Zafar Ali Khan told Dawn that earlier it was planned to off-load 10 per cent shares through underwriting at a price higher than the face value. He said that it was, however, felt that maximum benefit should be given to the general public to popularize the privatization program among the masses. Now, 37 million shares of National Bank at Rs10 per share par value would be given to the common investors through subscription. The meeting was told that 11 expressions of interest (EOIs) had been received for the privatization of PTCL, another nine for National Power Construction Company (NPCC), ten for the meter manufacturing unit of SSGC and seven for UBL though its last date was July 23. In all cases, EOIs were received from both international and national investor groups. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010718 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PIA seeks Rs6bn short-term loan ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, July 17: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), suffering severe financial woes, said it was negotiating with a consortium of state-run banks for a bridging loan of Rs6 billion ($9.36 million). "We are negotiating for a six billion rupee short-term commercial loan with a consortium of state-run banks and hopefully the loan will be finalized in the next week," a PIA spokesman told Reuters. A senior PIA official, who asked not to be identified, said the new loan would be for emergency financing. "The loan of six billion rupees will be a bridge financing before the airline gets the approved amount of Rs20 billion from the government," he said.- Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010721 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Renewed selling forces index to shed 23.22 points ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, July 20: The KSE 100-share index fell by about two per cent or 23.22 points at 1,260.59. The KSE 100-share index breached the resistance level of 1,270.00 points sending signals that bears are now in the full control of the market and could push it further lower. The index finally ended at 1,260.59 as compared to 1,283.81, showing a loss of another 23.22 points or about 2 per cent. The market decline was led by the textile sector, where leading shares fell in unison under the lead of Amin Spinning, Fazal Textiles, Dawood Cotton, Burewala Textiles, and Ishaq Textiles, falling by Rs.1.90 to 5.90. They were followed by some MNCs, notably Lever Brothers, BOC Pakistan, General Tyre, Alico and some others, which finished with fresh losses ranging from Rs.1.40 to 2.75. Pakistan Oilfields, Wah Noble Chemicals, EFU Life, Universal Insurance and Sindh Abadgar's Sugar were among the other leading losers. Arif Habib Securities, Mehran Sugar, Berger Paints, Colgate Pakistan and Bolan Casting managed to close one rupee to Rs.2.25 higher on stray support. Trading volume rose to 72m shares from the previous 31m shares reflecting larger selling as losers maintained a strong lead over the gainers at 146 to 40, with 49 holding on to the last level, out of 236 actives. PTCL again topped the list of most actives, off 50 paisa at Rs.15.70 on 29m shares, followed by Hub Power, easy 25 paisa at Rs.16.90 on 14m shares, PSO, down 95 paisa at Rs.125.50, on 9m shares, ICI Pakistan, lower 35 paisa at Rs.8.15 on 5m shares and MCB, unchanged at Rs.22.70 on 2m shares. Other actives were led by Adamjee Insurance, unchanged on 1.529m shares FFC-Jordan Fertiliser, off 30 paisa on 1.1.528m shares, Fauji Fertilizer, easy 25 paisa on 1.310m shares,Engro Chemical, off 45 paisa on 1.254m shares and Dewan Salman, off 50 paisa on 1.246m shares. DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Mixed trend was seen on this counter. While Colony Textiles fell by 15 paisa at Rs.8.35 on 1,000 shares, Gammon Pakistan was traded higher by 25 paisa at Rs.11.00 also on 1,000 shares. FORWARD COUNTER: Leading shares also followed the lead of the ready section and generally fell with major losers being PSO, PTCL and Hub Power and some other.Back to the top
EDITORIALS & FEATURES 20010720 ------------------------------------------------------------------- What more could we have asked for? ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ayaz Amir We seem to have got it wrong both ways. Before Agra, especially in the build-up to it, we hitched our expectations to the stars thus inducing a state of excitement breathlessly awaiting fulfilment. After Agra everyone concerned seems to be protesting too much in trying to explain why the summit was not a failure. Both approaches are misplaced. This was an encounter like no other in Indo-Pak summitry and for a change Pakistan was not responding to Indian moves. Rather, from the moment Musharraf took the salute from his generals in Lahore and got on his plane for New Delhi, the centre of attention, the focus of what quickly became saturation media coverage, was Pakistan and its military president. Because private TV channels in India do their own thing and are not tied to the apron strings of the ministry of information as is the case in Pakistan, and because real news was hard to come by, each network competed with the other to analyse (literally) every step Musharraf and his Begum took, every gesture they made. It made for awfully tedious television at times but at least Pakistan or its president could not complain of lack of attention. >From a country which not long ago was refusing to have any truck with Musharraf and would not take his name without mentioning Kargil in dark undertones, and which could not mention Pakistan without throwing in the phrase "cross-border terrorism", what more could we have asked for? Retaining perspective is not amongst the leading Pakistani virtues. Thanks in no small measure to Musharraf's endless interviews and briefings, we were needlessly euphoric before the event as if, going to a Yalta or a Potsdam, he was about to redraw the subcontinent's lines. Thanks in large part to the zero credibility of Pakistani official sources, first and foremost Pakistan Television, and to the communication skills of Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar-- a great negotiator behind closed doors but a champion of wooden exposition outside-- the impression that has spread is of a limp outcome. Or at least of something far below Pakistan's expectations. To take such a view is to see things through the wrong end of the telescope. Forget the missing declaration or joint statement. Another barren piece of paper stuck with empty cliches would not have lit the skies above the Himalayas. But it would have looked odd against the backdrop of the pre-summit hype and back home would have been a tough act to explain. Musharraf has been spared the predicament of defending another Tashkent. From his point of view, and no doubt Pakistan's, far better not to have a joint declaration than to bring back a weak one. The glumness should therefore lighten. The gods were favourable to us in Agra and it was Pakistan which basked in the limelight. Never in recent times was the word Kashmir mentioned as much on television or in newspapers in India as during the summit. The joint declaration may have foundered on the need for a mutually acceptable compromise. But for the army of journalists who had gathered in Agra there was little doubt as to what the sticking point--call it core issue or whatever-- had been. How does this not redound to Pakistan's advantage? Musharraf himself, let's not deny him the credit, was the star attraction of the summit. He obviously got on well with Mr Vajpayee, a circumstance behind the personal chemistry that by all accounts the two leaders developed. He left no one in any doubt that Kashmir topped the Pakistani agenda. And in his breakfast meeting with Indian newspaper editors, by general consent he came across as impressive. This event, recorded only by PTV, was not meant for immediate telecast. But Prannoy Roy of New Delhi Television (the organization which does news programming for Star News), sensing the opportunity, persuaded Pakistani officials to lend him the only copy of the recording. The result was a media coup for Star News and something which dominated the Agra skyline for the rest of the day. Liking not a bit of this, the Indian side later came out with heavy hints that when Musharraf started speaking through the media that was the time the Indian government decided to dig in its heels and give him nothing with which to return to Pakistan. But this was disinformation. The talks came to a dead-end for other reasons and not because of Musharraf's straight talking. How were the talks scuppered? Quite simply because Vajpayee himself and his cabinet hard-liners (led of course by Mr Advani) were operating on different wavelengths. The hard-liners wanted to give nothing on Kashmir and even though Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh twice agreed on the Kashmir clauses of the draft joint declaration, on both occasions he, and his prime minister, were vetoed by the hawks. Which, as it takes little imagination to see, is not the best way of conducting any kind of negotiations. Where in the world during high-level negotiations are the principals subject to constant cross-checking and blocking by more influential figures in the wings? But that's what happened at Agra. This circumstance alone testifies to one of the inherent flaws in this summit. While Musharraf was master of his show, and in a position to call the shots, Vajpayee, for all his pre-eminence as a leader, found his hands tied by his BJP hard-liners. On screen many Indian presenters kept asking the question: can Musharraf be trusted? In the end, it was the Indian government, especially its Advani hard-liners, which could not be trusted to sustain the momentum generated by this visit. When the crunch came Vajpayee's poetic vision was helpless before the cold-eyed narrowism of his hard-line colleagues. If he had his eyes on history, Advani probably had his on the provincial elections which are to come in Uttar Pradesh. That's how Agra crumbled. Pakistan need shed no tears at this outcome. For the first time since Kargil the burden of intransigence and provocation shifts clearly to Indian shoulders. During the summit's final hours Pakistani newsmen in mobile contact with members of the Pakistan delegation sensed a growing feeling of anger and frustration at India's delaying tactics. Twice, it was said, Jaswant Singh had gone back on his own draft. As rumour flew thick and fast, what had already been an extraordinary summit showed every sign of turning into a screen thriller. To add to the sense of drama came word at this point that General Musharraf wanted to address Pakistani journalists but was being prevented from doing so by the Indian side. The air quickly filled with a hint of raw patriotism but the tension subsided with the news that Musharraf had left for Agra airport. Was the Pakistani side expecting too much? If so, we were wrong because we were not negotiating from strength. What leverage did we have? Why should India then have obliged us by placing Kashmir at the top of the table? Already India seems to be realizing the mistake it made at Agra by saying that future talks will be conducted in the light of the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration--"the cornerstones," as has explicitly been stated, of "India-Pakistan relations". For a brief moment at Agra the two sides seemed to be groping for something that went slightly beyond the sterile clauses of the past. But the moment proved too short and the effort was abortive. The two sides have promised to keep on trying and, wisely, have refrained from apportioning blame. Even so, the impression is hard to shed that this was Vajpayee's last hurrah on Kashmir. While the sun went down on Agra there was a glimmer of hope that something slightly off the beaten track might emerge to break the impasse on Kashmir. But the hope died as it became clear that there was not enough of a commitment on the Indian side to take that small step forward which the mood and the occasion demanded. But why despair? Life goes on and while Musharraf has brought no text back from Agra whose clauses can be cited, he has helped create a process which both countries have an interest in keeping alive. And if this process does not touch Kashmir, let the onus of this be on India's head. If history, the name we give to collective folly, has to play out its course in that unhappy land, so be it. At least from now on the blame directed at us should be less shrill. Two questions in the end. Should this summit have taken place in Agra? Most certainly, yes. Dry enough as India-Pakistan relations are, they needed some romance brought into them. What is more, in Delhi or any other prosaic setting the talks would have come to a dead-end sooner than in Agra. Should this have been the media event that it became? Again, yes. The TV coverage was repetitive and mostly unenlightening but to tens of millions of viewers across the subcontinent it provided a glimpse, for the first time, of something utterly new: the promise of peace between two countries which have hitherto excelled at bitterness and conflict. For this alone the Agra summit was worth the effort that went into it. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- A job to do - beyond 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Kunwar Idris When soon after being sworn in as president, General Musharraf said he had "a role to play and a job to do", he was obviously looking beyond October 2002. To his foes it was hubris and to his friends humility, but the real message conveyed to all was that in the 21 months that had gone by he had moved up from the head of a ruling junta to the leader of a nation. The speculation on how it would be managed further is unnecessary. No court ruling or election has ever dislodged a man in power, only the people in the streets do but that takes some years. His methods in achieving this transformation looked simple and indifferent but were, in fact, subtle and effective. Their essential elements were to drive the foes to despair and keep the foe's foes, and thus your friends, on tenterhooks; keep bureaucracy under close surveillance and trust only those in its ranks whom you know; give all the key jobs to the men who are loyal and honest too; stay out of sleaze which should not be difficult because there is no money to go around for big contracts and procurements; whether it is his own office, law and order, important utilities or services, sports or reforms, the prime positions must be held by army men. Further, use carrot and stick alternately in dealing with the pressure groups, vested interests and schools of thought. Thus, just as the liberals thought their time had come, Gen. Musharraf started retreating to the glee of the orthodox. But once he caught the overweening clergy on the wrong foot, he admonished them with stunning effect. He often criticized the madrassahs for militancy yet acknowledged their contribution in imparting free education, howsoever parochial, to a million indigent youths who otherwise would have turned into illiterate vagabonds. He gave in on reforming the law of blasphemy and on separate electorates knowing that the enraged clerics cold harm his interest but not the persecuted religious minorities. He has left the press free as no other government did but ignores whatever it has to say as no other government did. Getting entangled with the press and its hacks, he seems to have discovered in the very beginning, does not pay. A news story is read and relished but not the official hand-out contradicting it. The power of propaganda lies in the radio and television and that control he has not let go though the expression of views now on them is less jarring to independent minds and, on occasions, even less flattering to the government. All that has helped in keeping a hold on the levers of power. What General Musharraf is now seeking is to lay the foundations of his career in national politics on accountability, district governments, an expanded autonomous police force, and the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. The scheme is ambitious and has its pitfalls. A pall of doubt and partiality already hangs over accountability. Some politicians and civil servants have been subjected to the rigours of its process while many others more culpable, at least in public perception, were exempted only to emerge as "like-minded" aspirants for power. The people find it difficult to believe that the leading lights of the Nawaz Muslim League's dissenting group are as innocent as driven snow, and the wealth was gathered and power abused only by those who have stuck to Nawaz or Benazir. A probe and trial process which keeps the former ministers, Syed Ghaus Ali Shah and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, in detention from the first day of the coup without a charge and asks not a question from their more ostentatious colleagues Ijazul Haq and Chaudhry Shujaat must create an impression that the determining factor is not the fault but where the loyalty lies. All for, in any case, were the power brokers, even the technocrat, Syed Mushahid Husain, was incarcerated, mercifully at home, for 16 or so months without a charge and released without an expression of apologies. Again, whatever the alleged enormity of Asif Ali Zardari's crime or assets, any procedure which is unable to establish his guilt after five years in prison must be viewed as faulty, harsh and partial. When instituted, accountability was generally welcomed, for mal- administration had never been punished before. The impact it made is fast diminishing. Now that new political structures and alliances are being forged and General Musharraf also holds a political office now, accountability should be made a continuing part of the country's judicial system. The moment for the law to prevail and the special tribunals to go has arrived. When General Ayub took over power, he too like General Musharraf, felt that the people must participate in economic development and resolution of disputes at the grassroots. He chose the commissioners and deputy commissioners and elected councils to launch his experiment. Shahid Javed Burki who was then the government's inspector for rural development now confirms (Dawn July 10) that it was a success. Being the political agent in a backward tribal area at that time, I should add it was a big success. It was the very first time that the people themselves selected and built the projects they needed. The authority of the deputy commissioner helped in expeditious execution. I should also add that the dispute conciliation machinery failed because the contending parties invariably wanted the officials or courts to adjudicate. They trusted the elected representatives with development but not in determining their civil rights or criminal liability. Unlike Ayub, General Musharraf has chosen to entrust the economic development, and indeed the entire administration at the district level, to the elected representatives and a powerful police, banishing the deputy commissioner. Forty years intervene between Ayub's conservatism and Musharraf's radicalism. Ayub's scheme failed despite its economic success because a political role was thrust on the councillors (as electoral college for the president). The nazims and councils in the present regime's scheme are starting as political entities. Politics thus is bound to overwhelm economics and civil society leaving the police to rule the roost. It is fraught with risk, for power alone does not bring authority and the responsibility that must accompany it. The conflict in Kashmir was the cause of Gen Musharraf's ascent to power. The resolution of that conflict might entrench him in power for a long time to come. India and Pakistan both have however queered the pitch already - India by declaring the Hurriyat irrelevant to the summit talks and Pakistan by inviting its members to a tea party. Pakistan persistently asked for talks without any condition whatsoever. Why it insisted on calling the Hurriyat to tea when it showed no keenness to come defies comprehension. Perhaps, for a while, Musharraf and his advisers should leave the "grassroots" to attend to the problems at the top which hamper Pakistan's stability and economic development. If he is able to settle the Kashmir dispute with India he would need no district governments to bolster his authority.
SPORTS 20010715 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sohail defies Australians ------------------------------------------------------------------- TAUNTON, July 14: Australian swing bowler Damien Fleming struck three early blows before Somerset recovered to reach 122-4 at tea on the second day of their tour match. After Australia declared at its overnight score of 348-3 in the pursuit of a quick victory, and heavy rain washed away the entire first session, Fleming pressed his claim for a Lord's Test berth with a fine display of controlled out-swing bowling. Opener Piran Holloway fell first ball, nudging a gentle catch to short leg before acting captain Michael Burns scooped the ball to mid-off on nine and Peter Bowler played on for two. But Pakistan guest player Aamir Sohail (49 not out), playing his first match in a year, and Matthew Wood (39) readied the ship with a gritty stand of 78 before the Somerset man fell to a jumping Colin Miller off-break. Demonstrating the class that brought him 2,823 runs in 47 Tests for Pakistan, Sohail strolled to the verge of his half-century in 140 minutes.-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010717 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistani's for world meet ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, July 16: Two Pakistanis left for Japan to compete in the world swimming championship to be held in the city of Fukuka. Pakistan Swimming Federation (PSF) had selected Mumtaz Ahmed and Zulfiqar Ali Sr to represent the country in the world championship. Mumtaz will take part in the 200 and 400 metres freestyle while Zulfiqar will take to the pool in the 100 and 200 metres butterfly and 200 metres individual medley, it was officially learnt. ------------------------------------------------------------------- You can subscribe to DWS by sending an email to <subscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following text in the BODY of your message: subscribe dws To unsubscribe, send an email to <unsubscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following in the BODY of you message: unsubscribe dws ------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the top.
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